Terrific Two!!!

Guess who's 2?

Yesterday we celebrated Max! The kids and I met Greg in town and went out for lunch at Perdue's. The service was pretty slow, Greg didn't think the food was anything real special (mine was good), but Max was a lot of fun!

Helping feed Nora her puffs

In the afternoon, Grandma Rassi stopped by and dropped off some birthday balloons and Grandpa Beutel stopped by to drop off some cupcakes! I didn't have the camera ready in time, but when Dad brought the cupcakes out from behind his back, Max's eyes and mouth got pretty big!

I want...that one!

Oh, boy! Cupcakes!

Since it was his birthday and it was 3:30 in the afternoon, I of course was a responsible mom and let him eat one. :)

Much less mess compared to a year ago!

Here's a story of a definite two year old: For supper, I had Greg grill hamburgers because Max LOVES meat and LOVES hamburgers...usually. Of course, last night he wouldn't even take a bite hardly! He ate plenty of macaroni and cheese and even green beans. No burger. Oh, Max.

We had a party for him in the evening. Thanks to everybody who came! I think everyone had a good time (I know Max certainly did!).

Listening to everyone sing Happy Birthday

He did fantastic at blowing out his candles...got them both by himself!

One down, one to go

Hooray! He got them! (I think the smoke was getting in his face or something)

After the candles, it was time for presents. The first present he got was a turtle sandbox from Grandpa and Grandma Rassi and Uncle Caleb. Greg set it up after he got home from work and we didn't let Max see it. As soon as we opened the door he ran out to it and climbed on top. I don't think he knew what it was. :)

(As I write this, it's raining outside. I have the front door open because he wanted to see the sandbox after seeing the picture above. He's staring quite longingly at his new turtle.) Of course, Max didn't want to come inside after getting that present! After some tears and a little talk with Mommy, Max decided he wanted to eat his dessert next.

After some ice cream pie, then he was ready to open the rest of his gifts.

Ooooh, what's inside?

A castle!

Grandpa and Grandma Beutel gave Max a fire engine he can ride in. It came with much assembly required, but Max didn't seem to mind. I love how he is just hanging out, cool as can be, in his car without wheels. :)

The party chaos

Grandpa B. starting to put together the fire engine. He did a great job!

After opening all of his presents, Max wanted to go play in the sandbox again. He and Bryce played out there for a looong time. Thanks, Mom Rassi for watching him out there!

All in all, Max had a great birthday and I had a great time watching him. :) We are so thankful that God gave you to us two years ago, little buddy! As much as you can be frustrating or stubborn at times, we love your laugh, your cheesy smile (see below), your fun-loving attitude, your dance moves, and your jabbering that we know will make sense someday! We love you so much, Maxerdoodle!

(This pic and the first one in this post are from after the party...everyone had left except for Tim and Melissa, and Max finally decided to cheese it up for the camera. Go figure. Is he a loner first born or what?)